Land rollers are implements used to level land to facilitate further working of the land, particularly for seed bed preparation in agriculture. Land rollers generally have large heavy cylindrical rollers whose central axes are oriented substantially horizontally with respect to the ground and substantially transversely with respect to the direction of travel of the implement when the implement is in a working configuration. The circumferential surfaces of the rollers engage the ground as the rollers roll over the ground to flatten the soil and level the ground.
Land rollers are also generally equipped with transport wheels to permit towing of the implement on a road to transport the implement between sites. During towing, the implement is in a transport configuration where the wheels are on the ground and the rollers are raised off the ground. When the implement is in the working configuration, the rollers are on the ground and the wheels are raised off the ground.
Land rollers are often provided with a hydraulic system for pivoting the wheels to convert the implement between the transport configuration and the working configuration. Additionally, land rollers are often constructed with side sections or “wings”, which have further hydraulic systems for pivoting the side sections between a substantially horizontally oriented (unfolded) position and a substantially upwardly oriented (folded) position. Upwardly folding the side sections narrows the overall width of the implement to permit the implement to be better towed on a public road.
When the implement is in the transport configuration and/or the side sections are in the folded position, the great weight of the rollers poses a significant safety hazard to people and property in the vicinity of the implement. In the event of a failure of one or more of the hydraulic systems, the rollers may inadvertently fall down into the working configuration or unfold into the unfolded position. Anything caught under the rollers would be crushed, suffering considerable damage. To avoid this problem, land rollers have been equipped with locking mechanisms or other supports so that the hydraulic system is not supporting the entire weight of the rollers. In many implements, the locking mechanisms are simple pins that are manually inserted by an operator. However, should the hydraulic system experience a catastrophic failure while the operator is trying to insert the pins but before the pins are inserted, the roller could fall, causing injury to the operator.
There remains a need for a simpler and safer way of ensuring that rollers remain stable when the implement is in the transport configuration.